Tabs Late in 2018

Lots of tabs, of course... are you surprised?

Climate-change
Climate change is already damaging American democracy. Major disasters and challenging long-term weather conditions are weakening local governments, increasing racial and class inequality, and reducing trust in government. Vann Newkirk for the Atlantic.

Is climate change driving you to despair? Read this. From Ensia.

We could shift to sustainability and save $26 trillion. Why aren't we doing it? The costs of the status quo keep rising; the costs of sustainable alternatives keep declining. By Dave Roberts for Vox.

What's really warming the world? Great graphics from Bloomberg News.

Survival of the richest. The wealthy are plotting to leave us behind. By Douglas Rushkoff on Medium. In which the author is asked by a very rich man, "How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event?" (The answer is... you can't. Sorry, dude. Better help fix things now.)

The planet can't survive our transportation habits. In light of the IPCC’s dire report, substituting some personal convenience in the present could mean that much more hope for the planet’s future. From CityLab.

"Hothouse Earth" co-author: the problem is neoliberal economics. By Kate Aronoff for The Intercept.

Halfway to boiling: the city at 50°C. It is the temperature at which human cells start to cook, animals suffer and air conditioners overload power grids. Once an urban anomaly, 50°C [122°F] is fast becoming reality. From the Guardian.

Racism and white supremacy
The unbearable whiteness of pro-lifers and pundits. By Ta-Nehisi Coates for the Atlantic. (From January 2011.)

To be black and woke is to be in rage all the time. Nic Stone for the Huffington Post.

How increasingly diverse neighborhoods affect white anxiety. From Pacific Standard.

Anti-racist parenting while white: an inquiry. By Sherri Spelic on Medium.

A video: How Southern socialites rewrote Civil War history. Vox on the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Income inequality and work
The philosophical argument for working less (and wasting time). By Zat Rana on Medium.

How wealth in childhood shapes personality later in life. From the Atlantic.

The Body in Poverty. The decline of America’s rural health system and its toll on my family. By Sarah Smarsh for the Nation.

Politics and hell-in-a-handbasket
Why technology favors tyranny. Artificial intelligence could erase many practical advantages of democracy, and erode the ideals of liberty and equality. It will further concentrate power among a small elite if we don’t take steps to stop it. Part of an Atlantic series that attempts to answer the question: Is democracy dying?

How Christian nationalism begets political conservatism. New research finds that fused identity apparently produces a predisposition toward authoritarianism. From Pacific Standard.

The least analytical 2016 voters: Democrats who supported Trump. New research finds liberals and libertarians are particularly prone to reflective thought. From Pacific Standard.

Passionate sports fans are more likely to endorse right-wing policies. Also from Pacific Standard.

Politicians love to talk about "survival of the fittest." They don't know what that means. By novelist M.T. Anderson, writing for Salon.

Change the world, not yourself, or how Arendt called out Thoreau. By Katie Fitzpatrick for Aeon.

Miscellaneous
The protaganists. Living in a world built by years and years of stories about white men who take whatever they want. From Vox.

Superfoods are marketing ploy. The deck: Blueberries and macadamia nuts aren’t that good for you. By rock-solid nutritionist Marion Nestle for the Atlantic.

‘Everything we’ve heard about global urbanization turns out to be wrong’ - researchers. Widely accepted numbers on how much of the world's population lives in cities are incorrect, with major implications for development aid and the provision of public services for billions of people, researchers say. From This Is Place.